The challenge will take place as one of the events during the four-day entrepreneurial event GREAT2014 – which takes place from September 17-20 – and looks to empower aspiring entrepreneurs to build successful global technology ventures with the aim of positioning Malaysia as a global technology hub. It is essentially a bootcamp that seeks to put 100 aspiring entrepreneurs together for a chance to build 20 startups in those four days.

The intensive workshop – which comes free for selected participants – will come complete with speakers, mentors and development tools to help them build those business ideas. The program will culminate in a session where the entrepreneurs get to pitch directly to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak during GREAT2014, with the ultimate winner receiving direct entry into Halal Tech Venture Builder’s incubation program with over RM$100,000 of venture development and online marketing support pledged to it.

When Halal Tech Challenge first debuted in April this year, the 100 selected entrepreneurs had built 18 companies in 4 weeks. Today, several of those startups (Halal4Wellness, MeDoFu, Hijab2G, etc.) have even become leaders in their respective markets.

Applications for Halal Tech POWER Challenge are open from now till September 10, and entries are accepted from entrepreneurs both in and outside of Malaysia.

Daniel Goh is the founder and chief editor of Young | Upstarts, as well as an F&B entrepreneur. Daniel has a background in public relations, and is interested in issues in entrepreneurship, small business, marketing, public relations and the online space. He can be reached at daniel [at] youngupstarts [dot] com.